Free Agency Notes: Moss, Orioles, Gee, Royals

Free agent slugger Brandon Moss “has been linked to the Orioles,” writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The 33-year-old possesses plenty of experience in the corner outfield – where general manager Dan Duquette is still looking for help even after acquiring Seth Smith on Friday – and could fit as a designated hitter in Baltimore. While re-signing Mark Trumbo would help fill those vacancies, Duquette didn’t sound optimistic about that Sunday. Moss should cost far less than Trumbo, largely because the former is coming off back-to-back mediocre seasons. As a member of the Cardinals last year, Moss swatted an impressive 28 home runs, but he nevertheless posted an unspectacular .225/.300/.484 line in 464 plate appearances. The lefty-swinger would at least add more power and variety to a mostly right-handed lineup, however.

More notes on the free agent market:

Right-hander Dillon Gee received medical clearance Thursday after undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in October, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitterlinks). Gee, who should be ready for spring training, has garnered interest from multiple teams, per Cotillo (the Marlins contacted him earlier this offseason). The 30-year-old has been on the open market since November, when he cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Gee spent 2016 in Kansas City, where he recorded a 4.68 ERA, 6.41 K/9 and 2.66 BB/9 in 125 innings and 33 appearances (14 starts).

Speaking of the Royals, the budget-conscious club will continue to monitor the market for potential bargains as the spring approaches, GM Dayton Moore told Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. “When the music stops, there’s always going to be a few guys without chairs,” Moore said. “And unfortunately, for those players, the options dwindle. For the clubs that stay aggressive and keep their pulse on everything, you can get some potential deals.” The Royals spent on several free agents – including Edinson Volquez, Kendrys Morales, Alex Gordon, Ian Kennedy and Joakim Soria – over the previous couple winters, but they’ve taken a much less aggressive approach this offseason. So far, backup catcher Drew Butera is the only free agent Kansas City has given a major league deal.

Comments

As an O’s fan, I don’t like what Moss would bring to the club and I’m also against bringing Trumbo back; especially at a multi-year deal. Moss would add absolutely nothing to the lineup. A couple dingers, poor OBP and zero versatility. Trumbo being more valuable and a bit younger; I’m stuck on the lack of athleticism and low on-base skills. The only way I want Trumbo on this team is if they can move Hardy somehow (haha) or Schoop/Jones.

Collusion appears to be happening betweèn owners on keeping salaries down this year. The Orioles are consistent at least, always waiting for the bargain basement free agents to land and grovel or they simply reneg on deals on some because technically they can because they found even a better deal (the famous medical records gets them out of any deal they have a change a heart on, Atty/ owner Peter Angelos isn’t a billionaire tightwad for nothing)

All teams are colluding but just for the 2016 season. Joey Bats is the first to stick out despite a poor year because of injuries. Trumbo will get the Orioles discount (two years 25 million is the rumor)

The Yankees have never been part of this tribe but this year is different.

The RedSox, Astros, Indians will be the only teams with a chance unless the Royals do a few subtle moves before and during season. The East is weak (finally) outside of the RedSox who can potentially get Big Papi to u retire sometime in June!

MLB already has realized the biggest money maker in sports will be a RedSox v Cubs WORLD SERIES!

No, it’s not collusion. This years free agent market is one of the worst, if not the worst, in recent memory. You can’t put lipstick on a pig.

Combined with that, is a better than every understanding by teams of where value can be extracted – as well as, where money is wasted. Ageing and/or one dimensional sluggers simply don’t get paid what they used to – because teams now realize what they are worth (or what they aren’t). This market is chocka with them.

Or maybe teams are just positioning themselves for the historic 2018 free agent class. The game seems to be correcting itself with these one dimensional sluggers. Not sure it’s really collusion. It’s also happens that the new CBA is going to play a crucial factor in such events. We’ve seen the Red Soxs, Yankees, and even Dodgers working their way to get under the cap this year or with the intent to be next year or two. This year consisted of one of the worst FA classes. The one seemingly available tool was power which is beyond common now. We’ve seen the top get paid and essentially every single one of them could provide more than just power (Ces, Turner, Desmond) maybe the exception being Edwin, but he’s still a top 10 hitter. It just seems everyone on the market now has serious question marks. This is a trend that has seemed to have carried over from last year when teams started to wake up.

Then who plays SS, or 2B/CF ?. Those players are very good defensive players. Trumbo is not. If they bring back Trumbo it’s not the worst idea. Last year his defense hurt the team in RF, he can DH with Smith in RF against RHP he could play RF against LHP and Mancini could DH.

Seems to me that everyone Baltimore has their eye on is a power-hitter type. They need to balance out the lineup and stop relying on the long ball. A lineup full of long ball hitters will inevitably go into prolonged slumps.

I’m actually quite surprised Moss isn’t getting more interest. Yes, his overall numbers aren’t too great on the surface but an incredibly terrible September brought his OPS from .895 to .784 and his wRC from .134 to .107. He’s more of a platoon player but he’s pretty damn good vs righties most of the time.

If Boras was willing to get alvarez signed for 3-5m again am pretty sure Duquette would rather have the younger player, then boras probably hopes some team will splurge on an equal player with the bat, but lesser defensive (if that’s possible) to Moss later on.

If Duquette is signing his guy now, one of the GM’s not afraid to wait out the market.. Then the asking price on alvarez must be exceedingly high. he might end up with worse than the 5m deal he previously had with multiple 1 dimensional guys still unsigned and all superior. Moss 1y and 3-4m would be a really decent sign, if that is what’s being discussed.

I’ll apologize in advance if I’m not reading what you wrote correctly, but I hesitate to see Moss considered less capable defensively. He’s a pretty capable corner outfielder by all measures, he just shouldn’t be playing 1B.

Like who? Give me a great everyday OF that the O’s could have signed, and if you say Cespedes you are officially disqualified because you are no longer building a major league baseball team, you are building a fantasy team with no payroll constraints.